Author's Notes: This is the fifth one-shot in the 30 Series, and there will be just one more. This collection is based on selected songs from Adele's album "30". I recommend listening to the music while reading the story – actually, just put the whole thing on repeat. The song titles are also the story titles. I have no beta, and all mistakes are my own. I am also not gaining anything in any way; this is for my enjoyment and hopefully for those who read it. This is post-Hogwarts, and everything through book seven is canon.
Can I Get It?
This had been brewing for almost a year now. The frequency of the small touches here and there that lingered grew more often; catching the other staring during an especially heated debate was commonplace. Soft smiles of fondness and affection during the conversations brought us closer together.
I think I had caught Minerva out just as much as she had me. Then, although it wasn't intended or some deep-seated secret wish of my heart held all these years. I realized I was in love with her.
Pave me a path to follow
And I'll tread any dangerous road
I will beg, and I'll steal; I will borrow
If I can make if I can make your heart my home
The weeks after we fell asleep on Minerva's couch in front of the fire in her office at Hogwarts seemed to drag on endlessly. The morning after our first night sleeping on her sofa, we finally admitted our feelings for and to one another. What we each were experiencing was more than just friendship; it was very much mutual attraction. The desire to be close, even if only platonically.
We talked about how long we had been pussyfooting around one another, each of us trying not to throw the proverbial wrench in the works of what had become our excellent friendship.
Throw me to the water (yeah, yeah)
I don't care how deep or shallow (yeah)
Because my heart can pound like thunder (yeah)
And your love, and your love can set me free (yeah)
More nights of long talks with our intimacy levels multiplying as we told each other secrets that few knew to be true. In the intervening time after the "girl's night out," we realized we had started dating but without labeling it as such.
It worked for us.
I have promised I will love you 'til the end of time
Through it all, the good, the bad, the ugly, and divine
I will be the melody, the rhythm, and your rhyme
All I want is for you to be mine
We talked about Minerva retiring over the past three months before she finally decided to do so and stuck to it. I was at a point where I could take some much-needed time off, and to be a bit smarmy, Aphrodite must have been helping us make our plans. After that, everything seemed to fall in line.
So can I get it right now? Mh
Can I get it right now? (Can I get it?)
Can I get it right now?
Can I get it right now?
Let me, let me just come and get it.
Can I get it?
Close to the end of the school year, I noticed that Minerva seemed anxious for some reason she would not disclose. At least not yet. Like the valuable tactician she was, she kept her thoughts to herself until she was ready to share what was bothering her so much with me.
When she finally spit it out, she wanted us to go away on vacation and wasn't sure how to bring it up in our current "label-less" situation. Moreover, she feared it was too intimate a suggestion since neither of us had admitted to any feelings, romantic or otherwise.
"Will you tell me what's bothering you so, Min?" I asked during dinner when Minerva seemed settled.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I was going to bring this up after we finished and were relaxing," Minerva replied, placing her napkin on her plate.
"Sooo…?" I drawled, also setting aside my napkin and rising from the table.
Minerva smiled as she rose and gestured for me to follow her.
You tease me with your control (yeah)
Because I long to live under your spell (yeah)
And without your love, I'm hollow (yeah)
I won't make it, I won't make it on my own (yeah)
I followed Minerva into her office from her personal room, where we had supper. I watched as she rounded the desk to effortlessly pull a slick paper tri-folded brochure of some sort and two sheets of white muggle copier paper from a neat stack in the middle of the desk.
With a flourish, she handed me a muggle cruise brochure. It was for a week-long trip around the Mediterranean. There was also the realty listing that Minerva gave me as well. The listing was for a small bungalow on 2 acres surrounded by old-growth trees enclosing the area in a large ring around the homestead. The house and acreage encompassed a cliff leading to the sea and sand dunes.
This made the location even more secluded than at first glance relayed. This also would make it harder for intruders to approach the house of a transfiguration mistress of the first order.
"This is lovely. Where is this?" I asked curiously.
"My new vacation property is not far from Stroma," Minerva replied sheepishly. "I was hoping you would join me there while we both have the time this summer."
I'm sure a goofy grin was plastered to my face as I watched Minerva try to subtly ask me to stay with her in her new home. I took her hand and pulled her to me, feeling bold, and kissed her.
It was sweet and gentle but then very quickly escalated. Lips, tongues, and breath all mingled as we got lost in one another.
I have promised I will love you 'til the end of time (end of time)
Through it all, the good, the bad, the ugly, and divine (the divine)
I will be the melody, the rhythm, and your rhyme (mhm)
All I want is for you to be mine
"Stay with me tonight," I asked shyly. "I know you don't have rounds tonight, and I thought since we are both free, we might spend the weekend together." I grinned at her cheekily.
She looked at me for a moment and then left the room. I thought I had overstepped myself somehow and must have misread the situation.
I started to grab my cloak and slip out before she could throw me out. What was I thinking by making a pass at The Minerva McGonagall? I began berating myself when Minerva returned with her traveling cloak and a small overnight bag.
She went to her desk and wrote a quick note that she then banished to somewhere. With a short wave of her hand, the lights dimmed, and the fire banked itself in the grate.
"Filius knows I'm leaving the castle and will return before classes start on Monday." She said with a lovely smile.
I offered her my arm as she crossed the room to me, which she took eagerly.
We strolled arm in arm out of the castle and down the apparition point just beyond the gates.
The night was cool and crisp, but there wasn't much moonlight to light our path as we moved across the school grounds. Crickets chirped, and you could faintly make out the giant squid lazily swimming what appeared to be laps in the black lake.
As we reached our departure point just beyond the gates of the castle, we slowed to a stop.
"Do you trust me?" I asked her teasingly.
"Of course." Came the quick reply.
I turned and slowly pulled her into my arms. "Close your eyes and take a deep breath," I whispered in her ear.
I watched her comply, and with my own deep breath, we were standing 200 yards out in my backyard.
"Welcome back to Marble Cottage, Minerva," I said as I led her up the worn path to my home. "I hope you enjoy your time here," I said as I opened my back door.
Once we made it inside, I took her cloak and bag and hung our cloaks up quickly while I led her through the house. I lit fires through the cottage to take the chill off the air with a quick wand swipe.
With her bag in one hand, I led her slowly up the stairs and into my bedroom.
So can I get it right now? Mh
Can I get it right now? (Can I get it?)
Can I get it right now?
Can I get it right now?
Let me, let me just come and get it
Can I get it?
Feeling a little nervous now that we were in my bedroom. I bought myself a little time as I moved her bag onto a chair that sat under the window, looking out into the backyard.
I turned back to see a nervous expression on Minerva's, and I couldn't help but smile at her.
I crossed the room to a door and opened it slightly. "This is my bathroom. Would you like a few moments, maybe? Have a shower, and I'll do the same downstairs and be back before you know."
For all my bravado earlier, I didn't want Minerva to feel pressured in any way. I started to turn away and move to the door when she caught my arm gently.
"Why don't we shower together?" Minerva asked with darkened eyes.
I licked my lips a moment before she swooped in for a torrid kiss. It went on until we had to pull apart and breathe.
Green eyes glittered in the firelight, mouth kiss-swollen, and breathing rapidly. The woman had never looked as sexy as she did at that moment.
I quickly pulled her to the bathroom and was again glad for dimmer switches. Muggle they may be, but they work without the fire hazard of candles everywhere. I dimmed the light to a warm glow that would be a bit more forgiving.
"I hope you like it hot," I said with a wink.
"You have no idea," was all the response I got before her hands pulled the blouse from my slacks. Warm fingers ran along my back and around my waist, pulling me back into a strong body.
"Hermione, I am not a young woman anymore," Minerva started to say, but I turned in the circle of her arms and pressed two fingers to her lips.
"Neither of us is young anymore, love. I have given birth to two children. We've both been in wars and have scars. I don't care for you because of your body, fine as it is, but that is just a vessel for the most wonderful soul I have ever met." I said sincerely. "Let me show you how much I care for you, ok?"
I adjusted the taps for comfort and turned back to Minerva to find her down to her knickers and bra. I raised an eyebrow in appreciation for the creature before me and quickly undressed.
I didn't stop at my underthings, stripped down, and stepped into the shower. I backed up under the water and let it wash over me; I reached for Minerva. Without any further hesitation, she joined me.
Tentative touches changed as they learned the plains of each other's bodies. I gently banished the pins in Minerva's hair to a dish by the sink, ran my finger through her long dark hair, and massaged in shampoo as we washed each other. I could practically hear her purring as I rinsed her hair out.
When will you run with me?
Like I know you wanna?
(Like you want to, like you want)
You're the one for me
And I'm counting on you (on you)
To put the pieces of me back together
I summoned two warm towels as we quickly dried off before we kissed our way over to the bed. We sat side by side at first before I scooted further onto the bed, taking her hands and urging her to follow. We lay side by side, kissing, stroking, and nibbling on one another until we were both so aroused we could barely speak.
Minerva rolled over, pinning me to the bed, kissing all the sensitive places I loved while I squirmed. My ears, my neck, that spot on my throat that always makes my breath catch. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own because it felt like I had to constantly touch her. Whatever skin was near my hands and my lips.
We learned each other's bodies for hours that first night, inside and out and in the most deliciously naughty of ways. Any ounce of worry I had about being able to please Minerva, having never actually been with a woman, became a non-issue when in the moment.
I listened to her body, and she mine. Our symphony began its first movements that night in all its loving glory, saying the things we weren't quite yet ready to put a voice to. That was all to yet come.
So can I get it right now? Mh
Can I get it right now? Mhm
Can I get it right now?
Can I get it right now?
Let me, let me just come and get it
